Inside Asian Gaming

November 2012 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 37 The casino at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore A ristocrat’s dominance of the slot floors in Macau’s casinos is a familiar story, but worth the retelling in the aftermath of the splash the company made at the 2012 Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. The New South Wales-based slot giant controls anywhere from 55-65% share of Macau’s current installed base of 17,000 or so machines. No one else is even close. How it got there is by designing base games that resonate with Chinese players. The basic formula might be expressed as thematic appeal + innovative math models geared to providing a good gamble with a layering of compelling big-win propositions such as its Hyperlink progressive. How it stays on top is by continually tweaking the formula with new game features that keep loyal fans engaged while attracting new ones. “We believe really that taking players on that brand extension journey is the successful step,” says David Punter, Aristocrat’s general manager Asia Pacific. “Whether it moves them from a standalone game to a better standalone game, a standalonegame tostandaloneprogressive, standalone to a link, standalone to a community, standalone to online.” Think of it as the pieces of a puzzle carefully fitted together to build a core product line whose whole is greater than the sum of its parts—or call it a “mosaic,” as Aristocrat did in summarizing the array of new licensed titles and enhanced classics it brought to G2E last month. The company mined the pop culture lode deeper than ever before to deliver games to appeal to all demographics and player profiles, principally with an eye to its North American markets, although some are a sure bet to make their way to Macau and East Asia. Superman is likely to be one of them. Based on the character Christopher Reeve made famous in the Academy Award- winning 1978 film, this was the title that generated perhaps the greatest buzz around an expansive G2E exhibit packed with iconic images from film, TV, comic books and video games. Fitted on the high-performance VERVEhd cabinet with the innovative math Aristocrat is known for and a super-sized jackpot proposition, Superman builds on a successful brand with all-video action enhanced with film clips. It offers players a choice of bet options, and the jackpot scales to the player’s bet, culminating in a chance at a US$2.5 million top prize. Expanding reels, expanding wilds and free-game features add to the excitement. It’s available also in two Hybrid steppers: Superman The Movie and an all-new Superman II. The Wonder 4 series similarly has been expanded with a new collection, Wonder 4 Special Edition, and a new Wonder 4 Deluxe line built upon proven titles that include 50 Lions, Wicked Winnings II, 5 Dragons Deluxe and Timberwolf; while 5 Dragons and 5 Dragons Deluxe, together with Queen of the Nile and Queen of the Nile Deluxe, also underlie a new Legends “Our complex math models are world-famous for one very simple reason: our games are proven to give players the best experience while giving a fantastic return on investment to the operator.” — Atul Bali, president, Aristocrat Americas Honing the Edge Aristocrat will be looking for Superman to soar into its Asian markets fresh off a high-flying display of licensed titles at G2E Aristocrat Superman